- Arizona AG Kris Mayes sued Botanic Tonics, LLC, a company known for its kratom and kava tonic “feel free”, alleging that the company violated the Arizona Consumer Fraud Act, including unlawfully promoting the kratom shots as energy drinks and failing to adequately disclose the risks of addiction and withdrawal from using the product.
- According to the AG’s complaint, “feel free” contains the psychoactive substances known as kratom and kava, and Botanic Tonics has sold “feel free” throughout Arizona at gas stations, convenience stores, and other retail locations while allegedly marketing it as a wellness tonic, energy product, kava drink, and alternative to alcohol. The complaint asserts that the Arizona Department of Health Services has identified 146 documented kratom deaths in Arizona between 2020 and 2023.
- The complaint thus alleges that “feel free” presents serious risks that the defendants’ marketing concealed or minimized. Additionally, the complaint alleges that the defendants’ attempts to obscure “feel free” kratom’s content and failure to adequately disclose its risks of addiction, dependence, withdrawal, and other adverse health effects. Defendants also allegedly promoted “feel free” as an alternative to alcohol, including to consumers seeking sobriety. Defendants also used sales practices designed to encourage repeated and increased purchases of “feel free,” including recurring subscriptions, discounts, and a rewards program that provided benefits as consumers spent more on the product.
- AG Mayes is seeking to permanently enjoin Botanic Tonics from misrepresenting its products’ safety and characteristics, plus restitution to consumers, disgorgement of profits, and penalties of $1,000 per willful violation, among other things.